Various anti-counterfeiting techniques have been utilized to ensure or confirm the authenticity of a variety of items, such as documents, currency, and goods. For example, counterfeiters may introduce items of lesser quality, containing unsafe components or ingredients, and/or that are otherwise not of a value or of a same significance as their authentic counterparts, such as for purposes of defrauding others, increased profit margins, etc. Accordingly, to ensure the safety individuals, the veracity of transactions, etc., one or more anti-counterfeiting techniques may be utilized with respect to items for which authentication is desired.
In general, there are four types of anti-counterfeiting techniques. The four types of anti-counterfeiting techniques include overt, covert, trace and track, and forensic. One or more such technique may be utilized with respect to items for which authentication is desired, such as to apply or otherwise associate an anti-counterfeiting security feature of the one or more anti-counterfeiting techniques to items.
In implementation of an overt anti-counterfeiting method, the security features are obviously present. Examples of overt anti-counterfeiting techniques include security features that are readily visible but difficult to reproduce, such as holograms, color shifting treatments, etc., provided with respect to items to be authenticated. Due to their obvious presence as anti-counterfeiting features, overt anti-counterfeiting implementations tend to be less secure than some other anti-counterfeiting techniques.
In contrast to overt anti-counterfeiting techniques, implementation of a covert anti-counterfeiting method implements hidden anti-counterfeiting technology, as the name implies. Examples of covert anti-counterfeiting techniques include security features that are not directly visible or not directly readable to the naked eye, such as fluorescent inks, watermarks, polarized hidden images, etc., provided with respect to items to be authenticated. The security features of such covert anti-counterfeiting techniques are adapted to be detected or come into existence with various stimuli, such as illumination with light of a particular wavelength, backlighting, viewing through appropriate filters or lenses (e.g., polarization filters and/or high magnification lenses), etc. Due to their covert or hidden presence as anti-counterfeiting features, covert anti-counterfeiting implementations tend to be more secure than some other anti-counterfeiting techniques, such as overt anti-counterfeiting techniques. For example, covert anti-counterfeiting features are typically hard to copy, although not impossible to copy.
Implementation of a track and trace anti-counterfeiting method utilizes an advanced database-monitoring and tracking system. Examples of track and trace anti-counterfeiting techniques include security features facilitating their tracking, such as radio-frequency identification tags, near-field communication transponders, etc. Track and trace anti-counterfeiting techniques can provide robust information regarding the provenance of an item. However, the cost of deploying and maintain the database-monitoring infrastructure and the individual track and trace security features can be prohibitive with respect to many anti-counterfeiting scenarios. Moreover, the active configuration of track and trace security features, such as the aforementioned radio-frequency identification tags and near-field communication transponders, can be relatively fragile or otherwise not well suited for use in certain situations and/or with particular items.
Implementation of a forensic anti-counterfeiting method requires a scientific analysis of forensic features of a sample, such as in a laboratory. Examples of forensic anti-counterfeiting techniques include use of features such as biological DNA taggants, micro- or nanotaggants, as security features. Although generally the most costly and difficult to authenticate, forensic anti-counterfeiting techniques generally provide the highest security level among the aforementioned anti-counterfeiting techniques.